NC Senate approves Lily’s Law

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NC Senate approves Lily’s Law

RALEIGH, N.C.–The state Senate approved a measure Thursday that would allow murder charges to be brought against someone who injures a child in utero if the child dies of those injuries after birth, WRAL reports.

Senate Bill 117, called “Lily’s Law,” is named after Lillian, the daughter of Danna Fitzgerald of Mebane. Fitzgerald was 27 weeks pregnant when her then-estranged husband shot her in the abdomen with a .45-caliber handgun in 2008.

Sponsor Sen. Rick Gunn, R-Alamance, said Fitzgerald was held hostage for 12 hours, “pregnant, bleeding… until she finally pleaded that she would lie and tell authorities it was an accident.”

Fitzgerald survived the shooting. Her child, Lily, was born, but died of the injuries she sustained.

A jury found her ex-husband guilty of murder, but he appealed, saying state law didn’t cover the circumstance.